The Snape Incident
by Zydrate Anatomy
Summary: Some people have a predesposition to dangerous foolishness. Sirius Black is one such person, and three people almost end up dead because of it. He wouldn't have minded Snape's death, but his own carelessness puts Remus and James's lives on the line too.
1. Chapter 1

Part 1: Just A Prank

Sirius was bored.

He had been sitting on the edge of his bed in the dormitory he shared with his three best friends, three boys for whom he would be willing to risk his life at the slightest beckoning, for the past hour and a half, effectively twiddling his thumbs (though he was too bored to do so in any literal sense) while he tried to think of something to do. Usually, when such a situation arose, Sirius would simply call upon James, his partner in crime and prankdom, and together they would orchestrate a prank to put Hogwarts' resident poltergeist, the aptly named Peeves, to shame, and this would be enough to stay the boredom for another long afternoon.

That afternoon, however, Sirius had no company other than the humid summer air and his own voice. James had deserted him yet again to chase after his seemingly life-long love interest, the fiery muggleborn red head, Lily Evans- an occurrence that was becoming more and more common in recent months. Though he had never voiced the opinion with any sincerity, he had hoped that James' infatuation with 'the Evans girl' would dissipate with time. He had had no such luck, and despite the fact that the end of their sixth summer as student's at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was already looming, James was even more head-over-heels over the girl than he had been when he had first decided he was in love with her. It wasn't, Sirius mused, that she wasn't a nice person, and she was undeniably pretty- with her thick carroty hair that hinted at curls without entirely giving into them, her smattering of light brown freckles that defined her features, and her near hypnotic green eyes which Sirius had so often seen James stare into with a longing more mature than his sixteen years- but Sirius could hardly bear the way that she had treated James over the years. All she had ever given his best friend was diamond-edged rejection after rejection, and each time Sirius had been there to pick up the pieces and hold James together in front of the girl he loved. It dumbfounded Sirius that she _couldn't see_ that James was crazy for her, even though it was plainer than parchment. He wished he could shake her and tell her to wake up and pay some attention to the boy who had cried himself to sleep over her for more than five years.

Remus, following the usual pattern at that particular time of the month, had gone to the hospital wing the day before in preparation for his transformation. His departure had been much easier for the last year and a half, since Sirius, James and Peter had perfected the animagus transformation. Unlike the previous years, the three boys no longer had to wait anxiously as they tried not to imagine the torment their friend was suffering and hope that he would live to see the morning- since the Christmas holidays of the marauders' fifth year at Hogwarts, James, Sirius and Peter had accompanied Remus each full moon and eased the pain of his transformation as animals rather than humans, and none of them had ever looked back. However, that night Sirius felt a deep sense of regret and pity for Remus, because he was to suffer alone. Whilst Sirius wanted nothing more than to go with him, he was unable to for a simple reason- Peter was ill. Without him, they could never even begin to get into the Willow

He had started to complain of feeling a little queasy the day before, but Sirius had thought he was probably just trying to get out of having to go to Transfiguration, because he owed McGonagall an essay which he had not even begun to attempt, but as the day progressed in an endless tirade of lessons, homework and promised detentions, Peter _had_ started to look a little green. By dinner, he looked positively awful. Sirius could tell something was seriously wrong when he didn't eat a bite of the sumptuous array of food spread on the table before him. He didn't even _look _at it. Remus had patted Peter on the arm, and suggested he come to the hospital wing with him and let Madame Pomfrey take a look at him. They had left immediately, leaving James and Sirius alone for the rest of the night. They didn't mind this, of course, but they spent the entire night discussing how best to humiliate Snape in their end-of-year prank.

They had not had any breakthroughs, but neither was particularly disheartened, as they had a few more weeks to come up with something memorable.

Peter did not turn up for lessons the next morning, so they went to visit him and Remus at lunch time. Both of them were in sorry states; Peter had to lunge for a bowl constantly so that he could tidily relieve the contents of his stomach, and Remus was sleeping fitfully, besieged by nightmares. In the end, Sirius and James left them to rest. Or, more accurately, Madame Pomfrey chased the two of them out, brandishing the foul-smelling potion for Peter's stomach bug.

They had then begun the long walk back to the Gryffindor common room with plans for a game of wizard's chess, when they had run into Lily Evans. From there, the normal pattern ensued- James asked her out, Lily slapped him, and he ran after her, simultaneously teasing her and complimenting her, while she flicked her hair at him.

And so Sirius was alone. And Sirius was very, very bored.

Suddenly, an idea dawned on Sirius like a light bulb had lit up in his brain. He could go _Snivellus_ hunting! Snivellus hunting, the art of tracking down and inflicting some manner of humiliation or pain on a certain Severus Snape, was one of Sirius' favourite pastimes. Granted, he usually was accompanied by James or Peter (though Remus usually refused from joining them), and usually Snape had _done_ something to warrant his treatment, but neither of these things particularly mattered to Sirius just then- he wasn't looking for something wholesome and moral, just a quick kick to stay the boredom.

With this in mind, Sirius got to his feet and walked over to James' trunk. It wasn't locked, so Sirius just opened the lid and began to rummage through the menagerie of socks (old and new), Zonko products, and other not completely necessary items that James stored in his trunk, most of which had not left it since the first year. With a small smirk of triumph, Sirius felt his searching fingers close on the item he had been looking for. He recognised it instantly by the smooth texture of the parchment, without a single slick smear of ink on its surface, at least for the moment.

Sirius pulled the Marauder's Map from James' trunk and let the lid swing shut with a defiant clang. Before saying a single word, he brought the map up to his nostrils and took a deep breath of its papery smell. It had always smelt nice, even before he and his friends had spent the countless hours poring over it, sketching passageways and corridors in pencil and ink and wrapping it in enchantments to tie it to the castle and all its inhabitants, and trying to make it work. Now, though, it smelt even better. It had the slight aroma of sweat, though in a pleasant sense, and of ghosted ink.

He tapped in with the tip of his wand, and said with relish, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." It did his heart good every time he saw their names run across the parchment; he felt a deep sense of pride that he and his friends had finally achieved something so lasting. Their magical talents and their animagi abilities would eventually fade, but this map could last years after they were gone, to serve generations of pranksters and rule-benders to come. Just the thought of passing on that kind of legacy brought a smile to his face.

Eventually his searching eyes found their target: a small label with the words _Severus Snape_ etched into it. Luckily for Sirius, it was sitting stock still in the library, with no-one else around, rather than in the Slytherin common room. Sirius was slightly disappointed that there would be no-one to witness Snape's humiliation, but stuffed the map into his front pocket and left the dormitory in search of Snape regardless.

It was, of course, very easy to find him. He had not moved from the spot Sirius had seen him in on the map; he was simply sitting and reading a book, though Sirius could not see the title from behind. Before moving any closer, he muttered a spell he had heard Snape use once, so that he could not hear his conversation, in the hope that Madame Pince might not come running if it came to a fight, which was highly likely. As he approached, he was able to see much more clearly: _'Annos et dies- disappearances explained' _.

_The little bastard, he's researching Remus! _Snape had been onto Remus from the first day he had missed school. He was always sticking his nose in, trying to trick them into giving something away. It made Sirius' blood boil angrily at the very thought of Snape finding out about Remus' lycanthropy, as he did not doubt that he was the sort to be prejudiced enough to spread it around the school and do his utmost to get him expelled. Sirius growled.

Snape spun around as he heard the noise, and his eyes narrowed when they fell on Sirius. "What do you want, Black?" His mouth twitched as he said Sirius' last name, either in amusement or disgust- Sirius didn't particularly care which, but it was all the provocation he needed.

He grabbed the book, which lay still open on the table, and threw it across the room. He brought his face centimetres from Snape's and growled.

"You will stop trying," he said, in a low voice, "or I will _make_ you."

He sneered, his yellowing teeth showing slightly. Sirius made a mental note to comment on that another time. "What are you going to do about it, Black? I _will_ find out what's going on here, and when I do-"

He was cut off as Sirius seized his collar and pinned him up against one of the heavy wooden bookcases, snarling. "You will _stop_,"

"You can't protect him all the time, Black. He's not here now, he's disappeared again. I'm not stupid; I can see the signs-"

"And if you don't shut up, you won't be seeing anything for a week!" Sirius raised his fist threateningly, but Snape did not flinch. He did, however, draw his wand from his pocket and drive it hard into Sirius' cheek, smiling.

"Get off me, Black." He smiled cruelly, pressing the wand hard enough to cause a pain. Sirius, however, was not unaccustomed to pain, and did not loosen his grip on Snape's shirt. "I said, get off! _Sectumsempra!_"

Sirius gasped as he felt a searing pain in his left cheek, and a warm trickle of blood running down his face and neck. He did not recognise the hex, but made a note to ask Remus about it sometime. He did let go of Snape though, in that he threw him across the room where he collided with a bookcase with a thump and a shower of dust. Usually, Sirius would have said something snide about the improvement, but he was too angry to trade petty insults now.

Ignoring the blood which was now flowing freely down his face, he walked over to Snape, being sure to step on his foot as he did. He drew back a fist, ready to give Snape a black eye, when Snape spluttered, spraying Sirius with saliva.

"You- you can't do anything to me. Madame Pince'll- she'll hear you." He grinned almost manically, and Sirius noted with pleasure that there was a little blood on his front teeth.

"Not with that spell of yours around. No one can hear but you" he poked his wand into Snape's cheekbone, returning the favour, "and me."

Any trace of smugness vanished from Snape's face. Sirius punched him, hard, in the stomach, and Snape curled his legs into his chest, trying to regain his breath.

"Stop it, Black." He hissed, still in his protective ball. "Your pet, Lupin, wouldn't want you doing this,"

_He just doesn't know when to stop, does he?_ Sirius thought hatefully. He would have punched him again, but he heard Snape mutter something, and he felt another lash of pain in his arm, effectively deadening it. He glanced down past his shoulder, and saw crimson spreading through the sleeve of his shirt. Snape smiled nastily.

With his teeth bared, he bent towards Snape menacingly, consumed with anger. "If you are so bloody interested, why don't you go jab the willow, I'm sure it'd love to get its branches on you!"

Snape's smile faltered a little, as though something had clicked in his mind. "That's where he goes, isn't it?" It wasn't a question, just thinking aloud, but that made it no less dangerous. Sirius was too filled with his own cleverness to realise what this could mean.

"You try it, see where it gets you- a bed in the hospital wing, if Pomfrey'll have you, and I somewhat doubt that." He kicked Snape hard on the backside, then walked away to where there was a gap in the bookcases. "See ya, Snivellus," he sneered, and walked away.

Sirius returned to the Gryffindor tower, having taken a brief detour from the library to the kitchens to pick up a 'snack' (a plate of scones and a pint of pumpkin juice) from the house-elves, and to the hospital wing to get the cuts patched up. He didn't mention who had done it, and he didn't go to see Remus (he figured that he would be asleep), he just went in and out as quickly as possible. When he entered the dormitory, he was surprised to see James sitting on top of his trunk with a downcast expression. He was bathed in orange light- the last of the dying sun's rays before day gave way to night. He looked up briefly as Sirius entered the room, but then continued to stare at his shoes. His black hair was strangely tidy- not by most people's standards, but considering the normal state of James' hair, it was quite miraculous. It seemed as though he had perhaps not been running his fingers through it as much, trying to impress Lily Evans. In the brief moment when he had looked up and their eyes had met, Sirius had noticed two things- the angry, red, roughly hand-shaped mark on his cheek, and the glimmer of tears in James' eyes. Evidently, his meeting with Lily had not gone well.

Sirius sat down at the end of James' bed, behind his friend, his hands clasped between his knees.

"Are you alright, mate?"

James sniffed. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

He obviously was nothing of the sort.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," James shook his head vigorously, but he still did not turn to face Sirius.

"You sure?" Sirius kept niggling at his friend in the hope that he would open up to him. Sirius of all people knew that that would help. After all, they had forced him to open up about his family, and that had helped him no end.

"Jeez, Sirius, I'm fine!" James spun around, the tears gone though the redness remained. Now that Sirius could see him properly, he could appreciate the full extent of Lily Evans current feelings towards James. The slap mark on his face was small, like Lily Evans' hands, but it was certainly strong. Sirius couldn't help but wonder what James could have done this time to warrant such action.

"So, what did you do today," James wore a forced smile, and the one Sirius returned was equally forced. He truly hated seeing his friend like this, always over the same girl.

Sirius shrugged, "Oh, nothing much. Stayed here for quite a while, which was really, _really_ boring, and then I went Snivellus hunting." James sat up a little straighter.

"Oh? Anything good?"

"Not really. He did some spell that cut me pretty deeply, so I punched him a few times. He was trying to work out about Remus,"

"That bastard," James spat.

"My thoughts exactly. So I gave him a bit of a beating, and told him to go jab the willow if he was so interested." Sirius looked so pleased with himself- he was giving Snape two beatings in one day and barely getting his hands dirty- and so he didn't understand when James' face fell and his eyes widened.

"You did _what?"_ He looked horrified. Sirius frowned confusedly.

"I told him to go jab the willow- he won't get in, he'll just get beaten up!"

"You don't know that Sirius!" James got to his feet and started pacing. "What if he does?"

"He won't! He's stupid, James, he's _Snivellus_, he'll never get through! And he'll sure as hell leave Remus alone afterwards!" Sirius got up as well, trying and failing to make James see sense. "It was just a prank," he muttered.

James took Sirius by the shoulders, and shook him. "_But what if he does, Sirius?_ Remus could kill him!"

James ran over to the window. Sirius could see from where he was that the moon was beginning to rise, a whole and perfect silver circle. Remus would be starting to transform. "He's not out there," James muttered.

"Sirius, give me the map."

Sirius complied, his eyebrows knitted together. He was battling with himself, part of him sure that _he_ was right, that the Whomping Willow would live up to its namesake and Remus would be fine, but the other part, growing stronger the more Sirius considered it, entirely supported James' point of view. In the end, it was the latter side which won.

_What have I done? _Sirius asked himself in disbelief.

James looked at the map, mouthing silently to himself. After a moment, he thrust it roughly into his pocket. "Right," he declared. "I'm going after him."

"I'll come with you-" James cut him off with a slight gesture of his hand.

"Don't," He looked at Sirius with a mixture of anger, pity and revulsion. "You've done enough."

AN: In case it isn't clear from my other stories, I am obsessed with Remus, and while he himself doesn't feature much at all in this story, I thought this was an important tale to tell. All of my stories, with the exception of _The Game_, exist in the same realm of fandom- so anything you read in any of the other stories is what I assume as history and backing for the others. Any criticism, comments, whatever- there's a little button, it says 'review'... and it loves you. If you click it, it will forever be your friend. Just a little something to bear in mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2: Rescue In The Moonlight

James came down the stairs of the Gryffindor boys' dormitory at a sprint, the muscles in his legs pumping hard. It was lucky he was as athletic as he was, or he would never have been able to sustain this pace for as long as he needed to. He heard another set of running footsteps on the stairs behind him, matching his stride, and knew Sirius was following him.

"James, please-" Sirius called after him desperately, but James redoubled his pace.

"Go tell Dumbledore, if you want to help," James yelled back at Sirius without turning round as he crossed the floor of the common room.

He reached the portrait hole, and he saw Sirius as he clambered out. Their eyes caught for a moment, but no more. "And get ready to say sorry to Remus." Sirius nodded, then James slipped through into the waiting corridor.

James' hurried footsteps resounded off the stone walls as he twisted and turned without a single thought to his location, having spent so much time poring over the map since its creation that he knew the blueprint of Hogwarts pretty much by heart. He descended floors and floors until he finally reached the level of the dungeons. It was here that he found Peeves, happily securing what looked like puréed slug in buckets above the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Whilst he wholly supported Peeves in what he was doing, James felt that he might need a little of his help.

"Oi, Peeves!" He hissed, shifting his weight anxiously from foot to foot.

"Students out of bed, should tell someone," Peeves grinned evilly, floating at James' eye level about a foot away. James snorted.

"C'mon Peeves, I need you to distract Filch for a minute."

Peeves looked rather unimpressed, and an evil tint glistened in his eye.

James sighed, tapping his foot. _I haven't got time for this._ "I'll get you another load of dungbombs from Hogsmede next week if you do it,"

Peeves rubbed his little hands together gleefully, then zoomed off to wherever Filch was with an evil cackle. James nodded and carried on.

He soon reached the door to his potion's classroom. Slughorn, he knew, was far too trusting to lock his door, and it swung open at the touch of James' hand. He leaned against it to push it open, and stumbled into the damp darkness. He checked his pockets realising with exasperation that he had not picked up his invisibility cloak in his rush from the common room. He cursed under his breath, and kicked a desk.

_Doesn't matter, you've got to get Snape._

The thought came from no where, but it was true- he had wasted far too much time already. He made for the thin window at the top of the left hand wall of the room, stretching up to grip the sill. The stone was smooth, difficult to get purchase on. His fingers danced blindly until they at last found the tiniest of cracks in the granite, which he gripped onto with a grimace and pulled. He struggled, but managed to force his head through the window (open, like the door) and flailed and wiggled until he was through it and face down in the soft grass next to the castle. He rolled to his feet, and stumbled in the direction of the willow.

To his dismay, the ominous silhouette of the willow against the dying rays of the setting sun was accompanied by another smaller, gangly shape, with lank hair and a long hooked nose. Snape was jogging towards the willow at a frightening place, fast enough and close enough that he was sure to get inside before James would. James cursed and he tried to up his speed to no avail: he was already at his limit.

"Snape!" He yelled in desperation. He instantly regretted it, though, when he found himself struggling for breath even more than he had been before. He could not help it, his pace slowed.

"Snape, stop!" He clutched at his side, a stitch slicing him from shoulder to hip. There was no way he could keep this up.

Snape spun around for a moment, his features picked out in the orange light, and saw James half-running, half-falling towards him, but he did not stop. James saw the hint of a sneer on Snape's lips as he slipped between the roots of the Willow, into the blind darkness of the tunnel beyond.

"_Shit,_" James swore for the third time that evening, as the strength went from his legs and his feet went out from beneath him. He landed heavily in the still-warm grass, his breath hitching in his throat. He clawed at the grass for a second, scraping the bottom of the barrel of his last energy reserves, and forced himself shakily to his feet. His legs wobbled threateningly, but held. He staggered forward, a fist clenched at his side. Thankfully, he did not have far to go, not more than fifty or so meters. He could go that in less than a minute, even at this pace. But there was still the nagging thought at the back of his mind that Snape could reach the end of the tunnel and charm open the door before he go there to stop him. It was possible, scarily so, but James could not spur himself to go any faster.

Something caught James' foot, and he looked down to see a twig encircling his ankle. He barely had time to register his horror before it jerked away and he found himself once more lying on his back. Another, thicker branch hit the ground beside him with a _thwack_ and he took that as ample warning, rolling swiftly out of the way, into the tunnel.

It was quiet and still in the darkness of the tunnel, nothing like the hellish place he remembered from his second year, and it smelled only of earth. The air was cool and sharp; it gave James a new will to continue and a new strength.

The scuffling of feet ahead caught his attention: _Snape_.

He crawled forward close to the ground, shuffling franticly with his trainers to advance. It was hard, slow work, but Snape did not sound like he was widening the distance. James called out to him again with vain hope.

"Snape, don't go in there!"

The other boy laughed, unaware, naive and obnoxious. James' blood simmered for a moment, but he forced himself to keep trying to save the life of the boy he hated, not for Snape, but the other life that rested on his safe return from the bowels of the willow.

James crawled on until the tunnel was wide enough that he could stoop on two feet, when he ran lopsidedly. He could no longer hear Snape's footsteps in front of him, only thrashes and yells from somewhere above. The moon had risen, Remus was beginning to transform. James urged himself onward feverishly.

Suddenly, not far ahead, he heard the creak of old hinges giving way and a footstep on the wooden floor of the Shrieking Shack. James stiffened in fear, and sprinted as well as he could in the cramped darkness. There was no more time, if he took much longer, Snape would die.

Like a miracle, he saw the door before him as he turned the next bend, Snape's tall figure shrinking through it, and he tore towards it. A howl ripped the air.

_He's transformed,_ James thought needlessly.

Barely across the threshold, James cast his gaze to the stairs, where he could just see Snape's feet disappearing from view. He took a running jump, and his fingers brushed the coarse material of Snape's trouser leg. He held on to it with grim determination, and Snape was forced to take a step back. From this angle, James could see him much better, though he did not appreciate view he had straight up Snape's nostrils, and he noticed a black object dangling on a strap at his side. _A camera_. James made a mental note to severely beat the asshole up at the first opportunity, for being so bloody obnoxious.

"Let go of me, Potter!" He whined. James pulled harder on his ankle and Snape stumbled again. He tried to tug his foot away, but James was having none of it.

"Get away from there, Snape." He cocked his head in the direction of the stairs Snape was trying to ascend and the door beyond, behind which Moony would just be coming to his senses, bloodlust his only emotion. Sure enough, a moment later there was a heavy crash from the door, followed by an angry snarl.

Snape sneered hatefully. "That's him, isn't it? A bloody werewolf, a monster!"

James dug into his pocket with his free hand, withdrawing his wand and pointing it threateningly up at Snape. There was another crash at the door, and the building shook. "Don't talk about Remus like that, bastard, you don't have a clue, not a _clue!_" James shook with rage, trying to keep his voice level to a minimum so he didn't agitate Moony any more than he all ready was. "You will get out, now!"

Snape did not move, eyeing the door. It seemed to James that he was weighing up whether he could chance another moment to get a picture of 'the beast', or whether he should bite the bullet and leave. James seethed, and let go of Snape's ankle as he swung round and got up the stairs in two long bounds, grabbing the back of Snape's cloak as he did. Snape gagged as James pulled him towards the door, and his arms flailed, trying to get a hold on his assailant.

Barely metres from the door, there was another thud from above, followed by a crash as the thick wooden door was torn away from its hinges by an unstoppable force, roused by the scent of human sweat and blood in its domain. James broke into a run, his fingers leaving Snape's hood. He had expected Snape to follow, as would be his base instinct. But then he heard a click, and a flash lit up the passage. He turned around to see Snape, jogging backwards, his camera poised as Moony bore down upon his, close enough to attack. There was not time to hesitate or to think of his friend, James fired a jet of red light at Moony with a yell of '_Stupefy!_'. He was all to aware that it would not stun the werewolf as it would a normal human, but he hoped that the pain and dizziness would provide enough distraction for him to make his escape with Snape.

Moony let out an angry yelp of pain, and fell back, snarling. "_Claustro!_" James exclaimed, his wand pointed at the door between the house and the tunnel. It slammed shut with surprising force, but James knew from experience that it would not hold for long, and Moony would soon join them in the tunnel.

Snape stood there, gaping at the now-closed door. "You tried to-"

"Move!" James cut him off running for the exit. This time, Snape followed him, painfully aware of the bangs of the door behind them both. Adrenaline coursed through James' veins like liquid fire, and soon he burst out into the moonlit night, Snape not far behind. A mournful howling echoed through the air as Moony ceased to pursue them, cheated of his prey by the sheer width of the tunnel, which James was once again hugely grateful for. He lay on his back in the cooling grass, breathing heavily and staring up at the full moon hatefully. For a short moment, while he got his breath back, he forgot that Snape was there.

He was not allowed to remain ignorant of the other boy for long, though, as Snape sat up, nearer the willow than James, with an angry scowl contorting his already unfortunate features.

"You tried to _kill_ me with that... thing! You and Black, you-"

James moved from his prone position to a crouch, which was strangely threatening when you considered that he was actually lower down than Snape, his face pressed close to Snape's. "I saved your life, Snivellus. I _saved _it."

"Only because your pet would have been put down, not for any moral reason!" Snape spat, not in the least intimidated. "Black still tried to kill me!"

James shoved him backwards and got to his feet, seething with righteous rage. "You disgust me, worm. I am not surprised Sirius wanted to teach you a lesson, but I know he didn't want you dead, not like this. He wouldn't waste Remus on scum like you."

"And you pretend that that beast is better than me? You think you can get away with this? You can't hide him forever; the school deserves to know what monster lives among them!"

"Remus is worth more than you in every way- he's twice the man you will ever be!" James trod hard on Snape's hand, which was outstretched at his side to support him.

"'_Man',_" Snape scoffed, a sneer returning to his face. James ground his foot harder.

"And if you _ever_ say a word, I will kill you myself."

He turned and made to stride back to the castle, and he would have done so if at that moment he had not walked straight into the Headmaster, accompanied by a sheepish-looking Sirius. Professor Dumbledore's half-moon spectacles were white in the moonlight, and his eyes were devoid of their usual twinkle. He looked coldly from Snape to Sirius, though James was spared of this glare. The elderly man's expression was hard, utterly un-amused, and there was not even a hint of a smile on his lips.

When he spoke, his voice shook with disappointment and, a rare thing to hear from the professor, anger. "Boys, come to my office immediately. I wish to speak with you all."

AN: I am always surprised by how much I love writing James in this story; I generally dislike him as a character otherwise. Hmm. Anyways, this is the penultimate part of the story, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Still friends with that review button? Then I think you owe it a friendly click. Haven't met yet? No time like the present to introduce yourself!


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it's taken me so long to update! I thought I had put all three parts of this story up *head desk* Anyway, here's the final installment, I hope you like it! Please leave a review and you can have some cyber sweeties :)

Part 3:

Snape, Sirius and James filed resolutely into Dumbledore's office, the old man striding ahead of them. He sat down in the high backed chair behind his desk, and crossed his fingers on the dark wood. He motioned to the three chairs, already arranged in a misshapen semi-circle, and the boys sat down before him. They all stayed silent, all too shocked and ashamed to say anything, not even in defence of themselves.

It was Dumbledore who broke the silence, looking at each of the boys individually with his piercing blue eyes. "I have never been as disgusted with the actions of any student as I am with those of you three boys today." He intoned in a severe voice the likes of which Sirius had never heard before on Dumbledore's tongue. This was without a doubt the angriest he had seen Dumbledore in his time at Hogwarts, and he wised desperately that he had not caused it. A heavy ball of dread settled in his stomach and on his shoulders, and he slumped forwards in his chair. He caught a sidelong glance from James, which was still saturated the anger for his stupidity that had not dissipated at all in the half-hour- _had it really only been that long?_- since he had left him so coldly. He could tell it would take some time for that rage to fully disappear, if it ever did. The worst thing was that he knew he deserved it all.

"I know there are several sides to this story and, frankly, I would rather not hear them, but it is my duty as headmaster to understand this. Mr Snape, if you would go first please."

Snape looked uncomfortable, repeatedly clearing his lank hair from his vision. "Well, sir, I was doing some research, in the library, this afternoon, when _Black_ came in and punched me and-"

"Sir, he did _this_!" Sirius interrupted angrily, pointing to the gash in his cheek, the edges of which were just starting to heal.

"Enough, Mr Black, you will have your turn!" Dumbledore silenced him.

Snape's mouth twitched in the beginning of a sneer, and he carried on. "And then he told me to go into the willow if I wanted to find out about Lupin, obviously hoping the monster would kill me."

Sirius was on him in a moment, his wand in hand, bearing down on Snape with a face like thunder. "Liar! You little-"

"Mr Black, _sit down!_ Or I will be forced to inform your parents about this," Sirius shied away from Dumbledore's threat, because he knew that Snape was not worth _that_. When he returned to his seat, Dumbledore sighed, and motioned Snape to continue.

"So I went down to the tree, and Potter came after me, probably to make sure the door was shut behind me," Sirius held his tongue at this, clenching his fists so hard that he could feel the tiny crescent bruises being formed under his nails. "And then he got cold feet and pulled me out when he thought I would tell people," Dumbledore shot a warning glance at James, who had been getting to his feet, and he stopped himself from retaliating.

"But I _am_ going to expose this, Professor. A werewolf, in our school, a _werewolf_! What if it kills someone, or bites someone? It's a beast, it-"

There was a flash and Sirius was blasted back into his chair, his wand spinning through the air until Dumbledore caught it between two withered, old fingers. Sirius nodded in defeat, and did not make to get up again. Dumbledore spun to face Snape.

"You will not tell anyone of this, Mr Snape, if you value your place at this school."

"But, sir, they _hid_ a _werewolf_! How can you-"

"No, Mr Snape, I allowed Mr Lupin to attend this school in full awareness of his condition. Whilst the actions of Mr Black were foolish and dangerous, the ultimate blame for this incident lies with me." Dumbledore said, with a measure of finality. Snape looked appalled.

"But that's against the law!"

"Any wizard child has the right to an education; surely you knew that, Severus?"

"Yes, but-"

"But what?" Dumbledore interrupted, with the tone of voice that suggested he were talking to an infuriating two-year-old, not a boy of sixteen.

"But he's a _monster_!"

"So you keep saying, Mr Snape, but I have never found Mr Lupin anything but a charming lad with great potential." The corners of Dumbledore's mouth curled up in a small smile as he said this, which made Sirius want to hug the old man for his fairness.

Snape gaped. "I'm still going to report this," he said, but not with the conviction of someone who would carry out their threats.

"Unless you wish to be expelled, I suggest you do not." Dumbledore turned back to Sirius, the smile dead on his lips. "Seeing as you seem to be the main antagonist of this incident, I wish to hear your version of events next, Mr Black."

Sirius nodded, and swallowed, trying to clear his head. It was swimming with excuses, reasons and various ways he could turn this around, and he could barely find himself in the mess of it all. This wasn't a time for lies.

"I... I was bored, sir, and so I went to the library. Well, I went to the library to find Snape." He amended, keeping his eyes shamefully down. "And, I, I mean, _we_ fought and I wasn't thinking so I told him to go jab the willow- so he'd get beaten up, not get in- and then I walked off. I never thought he'd get in, sir, never!"

"He's lying, Professor! He wanted Lupin to kill me, he-"

"Mr Snape, what I said to Mr Black on the subject of interrupting extends just as easily to you," Dumbledore warned, his piercing gaze still fixed on Sirius. Snape quieted begrudgingly.

Sirius carried on, hoping that he would finish what he needed to say before his courage deserted him. "And so I went back to the tower and told James, just as a joke, and he got worried and went to save Snape, because he knew I had done it all wrong. James only helped Snape, sir, he never did anything like what I did; you mustn't punish him!" Sirius had been about to say something else but the Headmaster cut him off, a brief smile passing over his face.

"Mr Potter will not be punished Mr Black, have no fear of _that._" Dumbledore assured him, with a warning tone in his voice. "_You_, on the other hand..."

Sirius bowed his head. "Whatever you want, Professor."

Dumbledore smiled grimly at the boy before him, pleased by the humility he was displaying. Snape gave a little snort.

Dumbledore's attention was then drawn to the other boy in the room, whose untidy black hair was falling gracelessly across the thick lenses that covered his eyes. James did not look like any hero- the surly teenager with mud-splattered jeans and a torn shirt whose fist was clenched tightly at his side. This, added to the inch-think detention file labelled '_James Potter_', made the aging wizard what manner of a boy was sitting before him.

"Mr Potter, would you please tell us all what happened it the Shrieking Shack?"

"What's to tell? I made him come back; I made sure Remus didn't hurt him- isn't that enough?"

James struggled with himself, with all his emotions. His fist tightened ad he bit his tongue to stop him from screaming. He just did not know what to think, what to do, what to say. Instead, he concentrated on keeping everything buried beneath his skin, where only he could worry about it.

He heard Dumbledore clear his throat as though from a distance, unconnected to the world he lived in. "Very good, Mr Potter."

He half-listened as Dumbledore doled out the punishments- a week's detention for Snape, for being out of bounds after hours, and a month's worth for Sirius, who was also required to help the house elves to make breakfast in the morning for the next week as extra reprimand for his stupidity. James hardly cared. Sirius deserved everything he got.

With this done, Dumbledore warned Snape to keep his silence once more then dismissed them. They left the office in a surly silence, ad for once Sirius did not taunt Snape once they were out of earshot. Sirius walked at James' side, but James paid no attention to him.

"James, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do anything you know that-"

"Shut up Sirius. I am not in the mood for it. If you want to do something, go and wait to help Moony when he... comes back."

He turned away and walked back to Gryffindor tower with his fists clenched at his side. He shut everything out and tied not to think about any of it. It was not until he reached the portrait hole that he realised he had come back alone.

Remus' head was killing him, and for a moment he didn't know where he was. Then the world came back into focus, and he found that he was resting face-down on the mistreated floor of the shack, with claw marks all around him. Before he got up, he did an inventory of his wounds and was displeased by what he found. There were three parallel scratches leaking wetness from his calf, and a ring of bloody holes close to his wrist that tapered up his arm. He flexed his fingers. They seemed to work fine, so he rolled himself over with a small moan and began to sit up. He had expected this, of course, when he realised he would not have company that night, but he had hoped that perhaps the time with the other animals would have tamed the wolf some so that it would not try to satiate its bloodlust with its own (and Remus') flesh. Flashes of the night before struck him, but he ignored them because they seemed utterly nonsensical- random images clouded with anger and blood. With a grimace, he spat on the floorboards, leaving a red stain.

A scuffle caught his attention, and his eyes swivelled to look into the corner of the ruined room. Sirius was there, hugging his knees to his chest in Remus' chair, looking haunted and vulnerable. There were bluish-purple bruises under his eyes and his hair was dishevelled, hanging in thick clumps around his ears. There were lines up and down his arms and, most chilling of all, a semi-circle of jagged indents visible through the torn material of his shirt on his shoulder.

"Sirius?" Remus said in a strangled yelp, fearing the worst and hating himself beyond belief. He staggered to his feet, ignoring the pain that flared in his leg, and ran to Sirius. "What happened, Sirius? Oh my god, I didn't..."

"It's fine, Moony, I was transformed." Sirius stated numbly without making eye contact.

"But what if I still infected you? Sirius, I'm so sorry, please-"

"Remus, you've bitten me before and it didn't do anything. I just didn't _tell_ you about it,"

Remus let himself breathe again, but Sirius stayed stock still where he was sitting, staring into space. Remus looked down at himself and self-consciously took his clothes from the chest of drawers and dressed himself with his back to Sirius. The nylon material of his shirt stuck to his skin, slick with sweat, saliva and blood, and his trousers were uncomfortable and itchy on his wounds, but he was used to that.

"It's not you that should be apologizing anyway, Moony; it's me. You haven't done anything wrong."

The sincerity in Sirius' voice caught Remus somewhat off-guard. He dropped to his knees to look him in the eye, but Sirius just looked through him. Up close, he could see the evidence of tear trails down Sirius' face. "What's going on?"

"I," he began, then bit his lip and stopped. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"I told Snape how to get into the shack. He knows."

Remus' legs went weak and his knees shook. "W-what?"

Sirius put his head in his hands to hide his face. "I told him. I didn't mean to- it was supposed to be a joke, not this. Not this."

Remus sat down heavily on the floor, breathing hard. "Is he...?" He questioned as his world crashed about his ears.

"No! No, Remus, James... stopped you. And Snape won't tell anyone. He promised Dumbledore." Sirius blinked sharply, and shook himself. He knew he had no right to be so desolate when it was Remus that had suffered.

Remus nodded, his eyes glistening. "Okay, Sirius. Okay."

"But... aren't you mad at me?" Sirius looked up dazedly, but with a glimmer of scepticism and guardedness. Remus shook his head sadly and piteously.

"No. I'd like to be- that would make things easier- but I can't be. You're alive, James's alive, I assume Peter is fine and Snape is not hurt and won't talk. That seems okay to me." Remus shrugged, then wished he hadn't when it irritated his arm. "I just wish you had thought about this a little more."

Sirius rubbed his eyes and slapped the side of his head. "But, I-"

Remus put his hands on Sirius' shoulders and made him look him in the eye. "Sirius, I know you. _You did not mean to hurt anyone_. And it's not like this is the worst thing anyone has ever done to me- look at Fenrir Greyback."

"Who?"

Remus mentally kicked himself and crossed his arms on his lap. "The man who bit me. That's his name."

"Oh, right."

There was an awkward silence. The house creaked ominously in the wind and Remus was thankful that it was summer rather than winter; if it was December, the house would be freezing.

"So what did Dumbledore give you?"

Sirius shrugged. "A month of detention and a week of breakfast duty, nothing bad. I deserved more- James thinks so anyway."

Remus smiled and nodded grimly. "I'll talk to him; he'll listen to me."

Sirius smiled at him in amusement, shaking his head near imperceptibly. "You're mad- you know that, right? I almost got you and Snape killed, and you are defending me?" He muttered incredulously.

"It comes from being friends with you lot." He ducked, as Sirius swung a playful punch at his head, and winced too obviously for Sirius not to notice. He stood up and offered his hand to Remus.

"C'mon, let's let Pomfrey have at look at you." Remus glanced pointedly at the mark on Sirius' forearm. Sirius rolled his eyes. "Okay, and me." He conceded.

Remus smiled and pulled himself up on Sirius' hand. "Prongs is going to destroy you whatever I say, you know that?" Sirius nodded.

"Just make sure they put _white_ lining in my coffin, okay?"

"Done," Remus chuckled. "But I am choosing the music."

"Not a chance, Jazz freak!"

They left the shack laughing, already forgetting the past few hours. They were young, and there were more interesting things to explore.

AN: And we have come to the end... I hope you enjoyed the ride.

-Jess


End file.
